AUGUST 2ND

Today in the Revolution ...

Formal signing of the Declaration of Independence by members of the Second Continental Congress.

1782

General Washington creates Honorary Badge of Distinction.

POOR RICHARD'S ALMANACK

Humility makes great men twice honourable.

— Benjamin Franklin,1735

AMERICANREVOLUTION.ORG

SPAIN'S ROLE IN
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN

by Dr. Mildred Murry and Chuck
Lampman

The French and Indian War, 1756-1763, was
the genesis of Spain's aid to the Patriots in the American Revolution,
for Britain, in conquering France and Spain, set the stage for
international revenge. August 15, 1761 Spain and France pledged
mutual support to each other in perpetuity with the Bourbon Family
Pact, and, on October 16, 1762, France ceded Louisiana to Spain.
The Treaty of Paris, 1763, gave Britain nearly all of the French
Empire in North America and a large part of Spain 's. Short of
another war, how could Spain recoup her losses?

Britain provided the answer. Her harsh
laws, acts and proceedings after the war forced her colonial
empire, especially the 13 colonies in North America, to help
pay for the war, to raise additional revenue and to maintain
British government leaders and military forces in the colonies.
This new policy generated strong opposition to these measures.
Spain was watching the unfolding colonial reactions -- Boston
Tea Party, Lexington and Concord, oratory by the likes of Patrick
Henry and the writings of Tom Paine among others, which were
viewed as acts of treason by Britain, but noted as steps toward
independence by Spain. Patriot Commissioners, who were to meet
with heads of state in Europe, were sent by the First and Second
Continental Congresses to offer them the return of lands lost
in the French and Indian War and to grant favored trade nation
status to any country or duchy that would provide war materiel
and/or other aid to the Patriots.

Spain responded to this offer; in four
ways, but not openly: money loaned, money given; a clandestine
world trading company to provide war materiel and to bring European
military leaders to America; opening literally a second front;
and sending Spanish observers to America.

Money loaned, money given

The first recorded moneys were two million
livres in hard currency and war materiel. Thus, the United States
currency, the Continental, was secured by Spanish silver dollars.
Two additional sums were noted: the first, $74,087.00, was loaned
to Patriots Oliver Pollock and Thomas Willing and, second, $174,011.00
to John Jay, United States Emissary to Spain. Another source
was King Carlos III's August 17, 1780 Royal Order asking Spanish
and Indian males in the Americas to donate two dollars and one
dollar respectively in equivalent goods, the records of which
were sent to Mexico City for distribution -- a mystery of history
not quite solved, although rumors abound. Fr. Serra, Father President
of Alta California, called this a "war tax." Alta California
sent $4,216.00.

A clandestine operation

This project provided war materiel and
brought European military leaders to the Patriots through a "dummy"
world trading company -- Roderique Hortalez et Cie. Based in
Paris, but operated out of St. Eustatius in the Lesser Antilles,
the Bourbon Kings of Spain and France each provided one million
livres to start the company in May of 1776, six weeks before
the Declaration of Independence. The materiel and leaders were
sent via ships from St. Eustatius to Portsmouth, New Hampshire;
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Charleston, South Carolina and New
Orleans in the Spanish Province of Louisiana, then up the Mississippi
and Ohio rivers and across the Braddock and Bedford roads. For
example, Patriots received this support for the Battle of Saratoga
and during the Northwest campaigns led by George Rogers Clark.
Baron F. W. Augustus von Steuben was brought to Valley Forge
with these funds as were Casimir Pulaski, Thaddeus Kosciuszko
et al for other Patriot activities.

Another military front

Spain literally started another military
front against the British as soon as war was declared in 1779.
Governor of Louisiana, Count Bernardo de Galvez, received orders
to take back forts the Spanish had lost to the British in 1763.
September 6, 1779, Galvez took Ft. Bute at Manchas in the Mississippi
River Valley with no losses to Spain. Taking the fort at Baton
Rouge was a more formidable task, but the Spanish captured it
September 20. Galvez next secured the peaceful surrender of Natchez
October 5. The next year, Galvez led his forces to capture Mobile,
West Florida. The attack on Pensacola in 1781 was on land and
sea with Galvez Commander-in-Chief; however, Joseph Calvo de
Irazabel led the fleet from Havana. Pensacola proved to be the
most difficult of the three-year campaign, although, again Spain
triumphed. There was one more battle between Spain and Britain
May 8, 1782 when Spain regained the Bahamas from England. Although
more military action was planned, negotiations for the Treaty
of Paris 1783 had begun, and hostilities ceased in the Atlantic
and along its seaboard. Protection of Spanish treasure ships
from British pirates continued from the Spanish Main (Cartegena
and Bilboa to Havana to Cadiz) and from Manila to the Sandwich
Islands (Hawaii) to Acapulco.

Much less is known about major military
actions in the Pacific. Since 1768, Spain had a major port and
shipbuilding center at San Blas on the west coast of Mexico in
addition to Acapulco. More than 20 ships plus treasure galleons
operated on a regular schedule supplying Pacific Coast missions,
presidios and pueblos as well as trading up and down the coast,
across the Pacific and in the Far East. Skirmishes were reported
between Spanish and British ships during the American Revolution.
Explorations of the northern Pacific also took place in what
is known today as Vancouver Island, Glacier Bay, Prince William
Sound and Unalaska where lands were claimed and lookouts established
for Russian and English ships.

One of the greatest impacts of the Spanish
navy was keeping the English in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico
from reinforcing Cornwallis at Yorktown October 1781.

Spanish Observers

These were sent to United States in much
the same way that the Patriots sent Commissioners to Europe.
The first and best known was Juan de Miralles who became a partner
in the trading firm of Robert Morris and Thomas Willing. Miralles
and George Washington also became personal friends and professional
correspondents.

The early land claims from the Atlantic
to the Pacific made by four colonies -- Connecticut, Pennsylvania,
Virginia and North Carolina -- were finally settled by the Treaty
of Paris in 1783.

Information confirming Spain's role in
the American Revolution can be found in the acts and proceedings
of the Continental Congresses recorded by Charles Thomson. Additional
material is available in the Library of Congress, National Archives,
National Historical Park Service and university and private collections.
Spanish sources include California Mission Archives and Archivos
General de Indies, Seville, Spain.